The San Diego reggae-pop band, which topped international charts in the 1990s, is reactivating for new album and Kickstarter campaign. Quino has solo show here tonight.

It’s been 19 years since San Diego’s Big Mountain scored an international Top 10 hit with its bouncy, reggae-fied version of Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your Way.” That success in turn helped lead to the band becoming the first American act to ever headline Jamaica’s prestigious Sunsplash festival, a feat the group achieved two years in a row in the mid-1990s.

But Big Mountain has been largely inactive over the past decade.

During that time, lead singer and guitarist Joaquin “Quino” McWhinney has worked as a solo artist, led the bilingual band Quinazo and become a high school information technology and video production teacher in South Bay’s Sweetwater District. As of this writing, budget cuts have placed his teaching position in question after this school year concludes in May.

“Proposition 30 was supposed to solve our budget problems, but it also led the state to send money directly to the school districts," Quino noted Wednesday. "Whereas, before, the San Diego Office of Education got the money, (now) the superintendents decide how to divide the money.”

His performance with his own group Friday, April 5, at The Griffin in Bay Park is as part of a multi-band lineup that also includes Shaka, a group that features former Big Mountain guitarist Jerome Cruz.

By coincidence, last week Big Mountain began an online Kickstarter campaign to help fund what will be the band’s first album since 2003’s “Cool Breeze.” If enough fans contribute, Big Mountain’s 2002 breakthrough song, “Touch My Light,” could become a new fundraising slogan for the group.

“We just passed $7,000 and have $33,000 left to raise," Quino said. "Either way, we’ll be recording an album in May. This is our opportunity to be more independent. Other options for us are to go out and get a loan, which we’d really rather not do. There are amazing projects being funded through Kickstarter, some of which are much more important than ours.

"But we thought it was a cool idea and that we’d give it a shot, before we went after some less attractive options. It’s been 10 years since we recorded our last album and a lot has changed. We’ve been working on this re-launch since last year. At this point in our lives, being a musician has more requirements. When you’re my age, you can’t jump in a van (to tour) like we used to. Some of us in the band are more active than others. My brother has been doing a lot of producing over in Hawaii. We didn’t intend on taking this much time off, but we’re really excited. And we’re back with Bruce Kaplan, who was our manager from 1990 to 1996. I’ve been on his tail for a few years. And, finally, last August, he said: ‘OK, let’s do this.’ He’s based in Ojai.”

Will the revamped Big Mountain perform any shows before the new album is completed and released?

In a word, no.

"It just doesn’t’ make sense," Quino said. "It’s really important to get a new record out and then start touring."

Quino does, however, have another April gig lined up after The Griffin.

"I’m performing at Humphreys on April 27, which is my birthday," he said. "I’ll be 47.”